Process of treating ores.



No. 881,101. I PATENTED MAR. 3, 1908. 3.0. U. CURRIB.

PROCESS OF TREATING ORES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1904. RENEWED mm: as, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED MAR. 3, 1908.

S. 0. G. GURRIE. I PROGBSS OF TREATING ORES. APPLICATION FILED MAY 16.1904. RENEWED JUN 28, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

STANLEY O. C.v CURRIliL OF LOS ANGELES', QALIFORNIA.

' 1 rnocnss or TREATING onns.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 3, 1908.

Application filed May 16, 1904, Serial No. 208,192. Renewed June 28,1907 Serial No. 381,354.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatLSTANLEY O. 0.,GURR1E, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and Stateof California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inProcesses of Treating Ores; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full,

' vention are to provide a simple and cheap method or rocess ofextracting metals from ores.-.

Another object of the invention is to employ hot solutions for thepurpose of dissolving out certain metals or metallic salts which may besoluble or held in suspension by said hot solutions.

It is also an object of this invention to recover the metals or metallicsalts 'by further precipitation from the solution in which they wereextractable-from the ore, as for instance an ore containing lead, zinc,or bismuth, etc. By subjecting such an ore, under suitable conditions,to a treatment with hot caustic alkali in solution, the above mentionedmetals or certain salts of the same ma be extracted.

S till a further object of the invention is to pass the hot solutionthrough the ore in such a manner, andunder such conditions, as, to avoidthe necessity of stirring or agitating the ore during the process oflixiviation, whereby the solution becomes turbid and mixed with solidmatter in the form of slime etc., which-is particularly undesirable inthe case of certain metals and metallic salts which are soluble in hotsolutions by recipitating therefrom on cooling. In suc cases the metalsor metallic salts which it is desired to recover would be retained inthe filter, mixed with undesirable elements, unless the solution duringthe process of filtration were maintained at a sufliciently hi h temerature.

t is a so an object of this invention to insure a constant flow throu hthe ore of fresh solution, or a solution as ee as possible from anyexcess of the metals or metallic salts as may be soluble in the same.

. manner.

The attainment of the foregoing results insures the maintenance of fullsolvent .functions of the solution inthe most efficient This inventionconsists broadly of first heati the solution, then passing the samethrou ll the ore, thence conducting the solution, ee from an solidundesirable substance, into a 000 ing, settlin or precipitatin tank, inwhich latter t e metals or meta lic salts will be precipitated asrequired in such tank, and, after the extraction or elimination of suchmetals or metallic salts from the solution,'to a ain heat and return thesolution through t e ore in a regener-'- ated condition.

The construction illustrated in the appended drawings illustrates a typeor form of apparatus that may be employed in carrging out this method orprocess, but it will e understood that the latter. is in no mannerlimited'to use with such apparatus as an suitable a paratus may beemployed whic is found esirable in practice.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a top plan view, partially broken away,illustrating one form of apparatus in connectionwith which this processmay be illustrated; and Fig. 2 is a side elevational view, partly insection, and partly. broken away, of. the construction shown in Fi 1.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views.

Referring to the drawings, the reference character 1 designates areservoir or receiving receptacle, provided with a valvecontrolledoutlet 2, constructed to discharge the contents thereof into a'pipe orconnection 3 communicating with a heating receptacle or tank 4, having aconnection 5 preferably provided with a vent or exhaust extension 6, andterminating within the ore receptacle or et 7, desirably beneath theerforated false bottom 8 thereof, substantia ly as shown in Fi 20f thedrawings.

he ore rece tacle 7 is desirably provided with a remova le top or cover9, and the ore receptacle 7 and the heating receptacle or tank 4 arepreferably located within a sheathand outlet connections 15 and l6 forthe coolnection wit ing agent employed, and with a valve controlledoutlet 17 as well as a connection 18, with a precipitating tank orreceptacle-19, preferably provided with a depending partial partition orledge 20 and with a valve controlled outlet 21, substantially as shown.An exhausting apparatus 22 is preferably connected with'theprecipitating tank 19 and with the reservoir 1, thereby completing thecircuit of fluid "throughout the apparatus above described.

The operation of this invention, in connection with the apparatus hereinshown and described, will be readily understood from the foregoindescription when taken in conh the accompanying drawings and thefollowing explanation thereof. The solution passes from the reservoir 1'into the receptacle 4, wherein the li uid is heated by the surroundinghot liquid, and when so heated passes through the connection 5 into thebottom of the ore receptacle 7, the gases or bubbles in the solutionescaping through the vent or outlet 6 during such passage; and whenliberated beneath the perforated false bottom in the ore receptacle 7the solution rises through the ore and passes from said receptacle tothe cooling receptacle, by way of connections, and from the coolingreceptacle the solution passes into the precipitating .tank orreceptable to be withdrawn therefrom by the exhausting-apparatus or pumpand redelivered into the reservoir 1 to be returned in the cycle ofoperation to the ore in a regenerated condition. y

It is not desired to limit or confine this invention to the exact methodor sequence of steps herein set forth and to the exact temmaintainingthe heat of the ore in the solu tion during such passage and finallywithdrawing the solution. I

2. The herein described process of extracting bismuth which consists inpassing a'hot caustic alkali solution through the ore containing thebismuth, then maintaining the heat of the ore in the solution, thenwithdrawing and cooling the solution, then ex' tracting the bismuth fromthe solution.

3. The herein described process or method of extracting bismuth whichconsists in first passing a hot caustic alkali solution through the ore,then coolin and precipitating metals and metallic sa ts therefrom, thenreheating the solution and repassing the solution'through the ore Intestimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses at Los Angeles,

county of LosAngeles, State of California this second day of May, 1904.

STANLEY C. C. OURRIE.

Witnesses:

MIGNON F031), OWEN Gr. CATEs.

